


Dreaming of You

by valis2



Category: Riptide (TV)
Genre: Angst, Drama, First Time, M/M, Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-04-05
Updated: 2011-04-05
Packaged: 2017-10-19 15:36:19
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,549
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/202432
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/valis2/pseuds/valis2
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cody has a dream.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dreaming of You

**Author's Note:**

  * For [tinx_r](https://archiveofourown.org/users/tinx_r/gifts).



> Happy Birthday to the awesome Tinx!

Cody scratched his neck and sighed. The half-finished letter in front of him stared at him accusingly, and he picked up the pen again and added another line.

Normally Murray would have put together this letter from one of the templates he stored in his computer, but right now he was rebuilding Roboz's inner modular...something-or-other system. Nick wasn't allowed to write client followup apology letters after the last time he'd written one, which had resulted in someone slashing the Jimmy's tires. So that left Cody.

Another sentence. _We are deeply sorry to have caused your schnauzer any inconvenience..._ He dropped the pen to the table, irritated. Apology letters usually came to him easily, but he couldn't concentrate. Not after the dream he'd had last night.

The most erotic, heated, deliciously sexual dream he'd ever had in his entire life, including the one with the blond triplets and the whipped cream. A dream so hot and sensual that he'd woken up and the slight movement of the sheets across him had made him come in his underwear like a teenager, gasping and shuddering. The only blessing had been that Nick was sleeping like a log, snoring lightly, unaware of the smell of sex that Cody had tried to wash off in the bathroom. He'd put on a new set of sheets, and gone back to bed, his mind caught between the afterglow and the overwhelming embarrassment.

Because his dream hadn't been about blond triplets and whipped cream. Nor about beautiful Sheila, nor Mindy, nor Tammi.

Nope.

It had been about his partner.

His decidedly _male_ best friend.

Cody put his head in his hands and groaned. This could not be happening.

_The letter. Concentrate on the letter._ He picked up the pen again and added another line. _We pride ourselves on our canine sensitivity..._

"Hey," said Nick, coming down the steps.

Cody looked up and swallowed. Nick was dressed like usual, wearing a pair of jeans and a blue denim shirt, but the effect was far from usual. His cock immediately went from zero to interested, fortunately restricted by his own tight jeans. "Uh, yeah. Hey."

Nick picked up the coffee pot and poured himself a mug. "You won't believe it, man," he said enthusiastically. "I figured out the problem with Mimi's carb."

No wonder he looked so happy, his blue eyes alight. It explained the grease stains on his hands, his large, callused, workman hands, the knuckles, the tight grip--

Cody was incredibly thankful that he was seated. "That's...great. Great." He tried to smile.

"What's that?" Nick leaned over and looked at the letter, grimacing. "Oh, the letter to Mrs. Noehler. Good luck. Tell her I'm sorry about her flowers."

"Hydrangeas."

"Huh?"

"They were hydrangeas." Cody swallowed hard as Nick stood too close. He could smell him, the sun-warmed musky engine smoky smell of him, and it was like the headiest perfume. It went right to his brain and made him dizzy.

"Hydrang...what?" He snorted. "Didn't know you were a master gardener."

"They're my mother's favorite." _Steady. Steady._ He took a deep breath. "So you're going to fix the carb--"

"No, I already fixed the carb." Nick gave him a weird look. "Anyway, I thought we'd head to Straightaway's tonight."

Cody stared at him, at the line of his jaw, the dark hair, the biceps that flexed as he brought the mug up against his mouth. At his lips, thick and sensual and soft, his tongue like heated velvet wrapped around--

"Cody, are you okay?" asked Nick, looking at him even more intently.

"Uh. Yeah. I'm fine." Cody plastered a smile on his face. "Straightaway's tonight. Happy hour starts at seven, right?"

"Forget happy hour," said Nick happily. "I got a line on two sisters. _Twins_. Brunettes. They're supposed to meet us at eight at the bar."

"Twins?" said Murray, rubbing his eyes as he came up the steps. "Fraternal or identical?"

"No clue," said Nick impatiently. "All I know is, I met one of them, and she was hot. But I played it cool. Told her we'd get there when we get there."

"Did you find out about their hobbies and pastimes?" asked Murray. "It's always nice to meet new people and find out that you have common ground."

"I didn't exactly have time," said Nick. "Anyway, I told her about the three of us, and she sounded really interested."

"Three guys, and two girls?" said Cody, idly picking up the pen again. "That doesn't sound like the best ratio..."

"Tammi said some of the _Contessa_ girls would be there, too. It'll be like shooting fish in a barrel." Nick looked at the grease stains on his hand and put the coffee cup down, taking off in the direction of the head.

With Nick gone, suddenly the salon seemed full of air again, a cool breeze through the window helping to dissipate some of the heat. Cody took a deep breath and then another and suddenly realized that Murray was talking to him.

"...and I hope that one of them has an interest in atomic subparticles, or at the very least uses IRC. Wouldn't that be boss?" Murray had a wistful grin on his face.

"Yeah, sure, I hope that too." He took a sip from his coffee, now cold. "So how's Roboz?"

"Well, I've patched things through to his main intelligence banks, and it appears that he's undamaged. So really, I only need to splice all of the wires back together. That could take some time, of course, but then I realized that if I set it up differently I wouldn't need to splice if this happens again. I'm thinking about using an interchangeable chassis, you see, and I've been developing a new set of connectivity points. I think that this could really revolutionize robotics, actually. I've been considering writing paper on the portability of robotic components, and this would fit right in." He looked down at the half-finished letter. "What's this?"

"The Noehler letter."

"Oh." Murray's eyes widened. "Oh! I forgot to pull the template for this and print it out. I'm so sorry, Cody, it's just with the Roboz getting decapitated again--"

"It's okay," said Cody. "Don't worry about it, Murray. I'm halfway done, after all, so I might as well just finish it."

"Oh. Are you sure?" Murray sounded almost disappointed.

"Yeah." Cody got up and poured fresh coffee into his mug along with a little milk. "Thanks, though."

"Well, I'll just get back to the Roboz, then." Murray bounded off toward his stateroom.

"I'll just finish this letter, then," said Cody. _And try to stop thinking about Nick. Naked._

* * *

The rest of the day passed by agonizingly slowly. Nick had taken it upon himself to clean the _Riptide_ , most likely because he thought they might bring the girls back there, and as a result, Cody ran into him constantly no matter where he tried to hide. He was just contemplating getting into the anchor locker when Murray excitedly announced that he'd finished creating a set of connectivity points, and Cody ran to his stateroom so fast that he got a little dizzy.

Anything to get away from Nick, who had put on one of his old shirts with no sleeves, so not only were his arms and shoulders on display, but a good portion of his ribs, too, and for some reason they were sexy. Cody had never noticed a rib in his life before, but Nick's were killer, and he remembered licking them in the dream, and he had to count to ten twice and imagine a shirtless Myron before his libido cooled down enough.

The Roboz was the perfect distraction. Cody listened to Murray explain the different issues with splicing too many times, with creating portable connections, and motherboards and intelligence centers and modular circuitry. It was calming and lovely. He'd very nearly regained his momentum when Nick came in, sweaty and smelling of brass polish. "Cody, you seen the vinyl cleaner? I just had it three days ago..."

"Under the fantail seat," said Cody, in a voice that was as close to normal as he could get, while surreptitiously going around the worktable and standing close to the back of the computer.

"I think we should call out for some pizza," added Nick. "The fridge is just about empty. I'm getting hungry...how about you guys?"

"That's a great idea!" said Murray, who had probably skipped right over lunch, as he often did when he was enthralled with robotics. "Cody? How about pizza?"

"Sure," said Cody. His cock twitched as Nick ran a hand through his hair, the shirt gapping and showing off more chest hair.

"I'll go call it in." Nick left.

_Myron shirtless. Baseball. Cold showers._

"Cody? Is anything wrong?"

Cody opened his eyes and realized that Murray was staring at him. "No, everything's fine. So you were saying about the transmographication..."

"The transmitting graph analysis, Cody. Yes, that's the next topic I think I'm going to tackle. No one's successfully applied it to robotics..."

Murray's explanation grew more and more complicated, and Cody tried to concentrate on it, but it was difficult. He couldn't help but think of Nick in the sweatshirt, how hot he was, the wild things they'd done in his dream, how he'd felt those lips everywhere on his body, roaming hot and wet and gliding and biting and sucking--

Nick shouted that the pizza was there, and Murray left first while Cody tried to adjust himself. He stopped in the head, where he splashed cold water on his face and thought of ice cubes and Myron in a green leisure suit, which helped. Barely.

Cody sat down across from Murray and took a slice from the pepperoni side, avoiding the border slice which had pineapple and ham on it.

"Nick remembered to get double pineapple this time," said Murray brightly. "But I'm not certain about the ratio. The last pizza had 7.6 pieces of pineapple per slice, and this seems to have 10.2 pieces per slice, which isn't double. I wonder if triple pineapple would result in a further dilution of the ratio, such as 12.4 pieces."

"How's it taste?" asked Cody.

"Oh, it's delicious! You should really try some."

"No thank you," said Cody. "I'm not a fan of..." Nick sat down next to him, pushing him further down the bench seat of the galley, which was entirely normal and how they usually sat there, shoulder to shoulder, but this time it sent a wave of heat rushing through Cody's body. He gulped and nearly dropped his slice of pizza.

"You're not a fan of what?" asked Nick, grabbing a slice of pizza.

"Huh?"

"You said you weren't a fan of..."

Cody blinked. His left arm tingled where Nick's hot flesh was pressed up against it.

"I think he means pineapple," said Murray, who was counting the pieces of pineapple on his next slice.

"Uh, yeah. Pineapple," echoed Cody.

"You feeling okay?" asked Nick, looking concerned. "You spend a little too much time in the sun?"

"No, I'm fine." He took a bite of his pizza and chewed vigorously, trying to show just how fine he was. Completely fine. Utterly fine. He was not thinking about Nick bending him over the galley table and taking him hard and rough while he moaned and bucked like a wanton thing.

"You're flushed," said Nick. "Maybe you have a fever."

"I don't have a fever." He swallowed and nearly choked, and Nick thumped him on the back. He took a sip of soda to clear his throat.

"Okay," said Nick dubiously. "So tonight, my plan of attack is this. I'll take the younger twin, you take the older, or maybe you go after that pretty new _Contessa_ girl. The one with the dark hair and the great body. Murray--"

Murray giggled. "Are you going to draw diagrams? Can I be an X?"

"Sure, Murray, of course. Anyway, I'll go in first, introduce myself again, and then you guys come in casual, okay, like you just happened to be there--"

"But I thought you told them about us," said Murray.

"I did. But it's better if they think you're just there for fun, not for them, okay?"

"But we _are_ there for them."

Cody could tell that Nick was counting to ten before he spoke again. "Yeah, I know that and you know that, but we're not going to tell _them_ that, Murray. We don't want them to think we're there to see them or they'll think they've got us wrapped around their pinky fingers."

"Oh." Murray blinked. "Oh! I get it! We're men, and we're going to be manly and go in there and show those girls who's boss." He hooted in delight. "Boss! We're definitely boss, right? Do you get it?"

"Yeah, I get it." Nick grinned and took another bite of pizza, and Cody looked over and saw his lips again, his hands, those sensual hands, and had to shift in his seat.

"Did you finish the letter?" asked Murray.

Cody blinked and then realized that Murray was talking to him, and glimpsed an exit route. "Yes. I think--I should really mail it now, actually." Then he realized how bad an idea standing up was.

"Now?" said Nick, exchanging a worried glance with Murray.

"The last postal pickup for the mailbox on the pier is at 5:30 pm, Cody, and it's now six o'clock," said Murray, checking his watch.

"Yeah, you're right." He tried to make himself eat another bite of pizza, but it was almost impossible while pressed up against Nick, the scent of him filling his nose and driving him mad.

Nick put the back of his hand against Cody's forehead, sending sparks to his groin, and Cody swallowed against a squeaking noise that almost came out. "You feel a little warm, pal."

"I'm fine." Cody gave him his most charming smile, which, strangely enough, made Nick frown.

* * *

Straightaway's was barely half-full. It was a weeknight, after all, and still early. Cody walked behind Murray, who was confidently approaching the bar, wearing his best plaid suit. Nick was there already, talking to two gorgeous ladies who looked nearly identical.

"Hey!" said Nick, giving them both a smile. "Girls, I want you to meet my friends and partners. This is Cody Allen, and this tall dark stranger is Murray Bozinsky."

"Tall and dark?" said Murray. "I can see the tall descriptor fitting, but I'm not sure about dark. This suit is rather pale, you see--" The girl on the left giggled.

"This is Tanya in the red dress," said Nick, pointing to the giggler, "and Sarah is in the blue dress."

"Why, Cody, you're wearing white--you should stand between them, and then you would be red, white, and blue!" said Murray.

Tanya giggled again. "You didn't tell us he was such a card!"

"Yeah, that Murray, he's a witty guy to have around," said Nick smoothly.

"Oh, I like this song!" said Sarah. "Nick, how about another dance?"

"Sure, babe, sounds great," said Nick, grinning from ear to ear and leading her to the dance floor.

"So you're all partners in the agency?" asked Tanya.

Somewhere, Cody heard her words, but they didn't quite register, and he heard Murray answering instead. Every particle of Cody's being was watching Nick holding Sarah's hand as they made their way through the tables.

A searing flash of jealousy took him completely by surprise, the heat of it making him gulp and grip the edge of the bar. He wanted nothing more than to go and grab Sarah and throw her off the pier. He wanted to take Nick somewhere dark and quiet, pull him down to the floor and rip off his clothes with his bare hands.

_Oh god. Get a grip on yourself. This is Nick. Nick._ He turned away from the sight of them dancing together and forced himself to calm down.

"...and sometimes when you're on a big case, you know, you need to have sound surveillance as well." Murray was busy moving the drinks on the bar to create a diorama of their last case. "This salt shaker, now this is where Cody was positioned, and it was a rather boss spot, you see, where he could see up into the living room but also monitor the parking lot just in case. Nick..." He moved the pepper shaker. "He was in the tree--"

"He was in a _tree_?" said Tanya. She laughed out loud. "That makes so much sense."

"Well, he needed to look into the second story of the apartment building." Murray paused. "You know, you really have the most beautiful eyes."

"Thank you," she said, smiling and taking another sip of her martini.

There was a strange feeling, like Cody's head was too light for his body, and he was aware that he should be talking to Tanya or at least looking for another target, but it was like he was frozen in place. Thinking of Nick and Sarah dancing, getting closer and closer...his blood boiled anew at the thought and he sat down next to Murray and ordered a whiskey.

"Your friend's into the hard stuff, I see," said Tanya. For a split second Cody thought she was making a double entendre about wanting Nick, and he looked at her sharply, but then he realized she meant his drink.

"So...uh...what do you do for a living?" asked Cody.

"She's a licensed practical nurse," said Murray enthusiastically. "And she's studying to be a registered nurse."

"Oh." Cody couldn't think of anything else except for the dance floor and Nick and Sarah.

"So when did the sugar come into play?" asked Tanya.

Murray blushed--Cody could see the back of his neck redden--and moved the small white container to one side. "Well, the sugar dish is me, and the Roboz. We were recording data, you see."

"The Robots? What are you saying?"

"The Roboz." He sounded energized, and leaned back enough so that Cody could see he was beaming. "He's quite an interesting piece of technology. He's an artificial intelligence project."

"And he's orange," added Cody.

"Wait a minute." Tanya's eyes narrowed. "What did you say your name was again?"

"Murray. Murray Bozinsky."

"Murray Bozinsky..." She paused. "Murray Bozinsky, the famous programmer? Are you serious? Get outta here!"

"Uh...but...I just got here," said Murray, taken aback.

"No, I mean, I can't believe it!" She leaned forward. "I've read articles about you! Wow, wait until I tell Sarah!"

"Well, that is very boss!" Murray straightened up. "Tell me, would you care to dance?"

"I would _love_ to," she said, giving him a come-hither look that made Cody grin. "Come on." She grabbed his arm and led him out to the dance floor.

Cody turned back to his drink and knocked it back, signaling for another one. Katie came over and refilled his glass, giving him a sympathetic smile, and then she went back to the group of frat boys at the end of the bar.

Sighing, Cody drank that, too, and then contemplated the empty glass. _The dream will fade. It was just a dream. You will stop thinking about Nick's hands any minute. His lips, too. the way he stands...the way he puts on his boots...his smile..._

This was not helping. Katie refilled his glass again and he thought about getting really drunk. Maybe tomorrow he would wake up cured.

A touch to his shoulder made him jerk, and it turned out to be Nick. "Hey," he said, sitting down next to him. "You're really jumpy. Are you sure you're okay?"

"Fine," said Cody, taking a healthy slug of whiskey. Things were getting pleasantly muzzy. "I'm great. Fantastic. You?"

"Well, other than one of my wingmen just stole _both_ of the girls I'd had my eye on, and my other wingman is getting sloshed waaay too early in the evening, I'm just fine."

"Murray stole Sarah, too?"

"Yep. They're both all over him, and acting like I'm not even there. I can take a hint."

It was the best news all night. Cody grinned from ear to ear. "That's great, Nick." He blinked. "Uh, for Murray. I mean, he deserves a great evening."

"Sure, right." Nick turned and ordered a beer. "I think that new _Contessa_ girl will be here soon, though, and maybe a few other girls. I mean, you know that Tammi's always up for a good time with you..."

Cody suddenly hated the entire _Barefoot Contessa_ crew. Every single girl. And the boat herself. Even the cleats. He frowned. "How 'bout...we just go back and watch a movie?" Then he realized that it meant he'd be alone with Nick, sitting next to him, feeling the touch of his skin, the heat of his body. _Bad idea._

Nick gave him a look. "You wanna tell me what's going on?" he demanded. "You're avoiding me all day, you don't even bother talking to the hot girls I found, and you want to go home...at eight-thirty." He ticked off each point on his fingers. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Cody shook his head and pushed away the empty whiskey glass. "I think...look, I'll just go home for the night. I'm kind of tired." He yawned for emphasis.

"I'll walk you back." Nick's hand was hot and heavy on his shoulder.

"I can make it--" protested Cody.

"Sure." Nick gave him an implacable look and Cody exhaled, defeated. Nick made his way back to the dance floor, stopping to say something into Murray's ear.

Sliding down off the stool was only a little trickier than usual, and Cody managed to get out the door without weaving. Murray gave them a cheerful wave as they left. The air outside was cool, and cleared his head slightly. "You didn't need to walk me home."

"Sure I did." With his hands in his pockets and his shirt sleeves rolled up to his elbows he looked completely relaxed, but his eyes were worried.

"I told you I'm okay. You should go back and have fun with the wonder twins."

"Maybe." Nick unlocked the padlock on their gate and ushered Cody through, his hand warm on the small of his back. Cody shivered.

Back on board the _Riptide_ , everything looked neat and clean. The salon table was empty of clutter, the wood gleaming, and the carpeting was freshly vacuumed.

"You gonna tell me what's wrong now?" asked Nick, crossing his arms.

"Nothing's wrong," protested Cody.

"I got all night, pal." Nick stood and stared at him expectantly.

"Everything's fine." Cody put his hands on his hips. "You don't have to babysit me."

"I'm not babysitting you."

"Okay, then, why don't you head back to Straightaway's?"

"I might, if you tell me what's wrong."

Cody exhaled, exasperated. "Nothing I want to talk about, okay?"

"So there _is_ something wrong." Nick didn't look triumphant at having figured it out, though; he frowned.

"Look, just forget about it."

"Not going to happen. Tell me."

"You're the last person--" Frustrated, Cody turned away, only to feel Nick's hand on his shoulder, pulling him around to face him again.

"What is it?" asked Nick quietly. "C'mon, man, all the things we've been through...you know you can tell me anything."

Cody looked into Nick's intense gaze. "It's...I don't know..."

"Tell me."

Mesmerized, Cody drew closer, the dream washing over his bare skin, tingling. Nick stood still, the electricity growing between them. _I just want--to taste him. Just once. Then he'll...he'll push me away. It'll be a joke. I'll say it was a joke._ He leaned forward and brought their lips together.

Softer than even in the dream. Hotter. Sweeter. Cody felt the heat rising between them as time stood still.

Nick was kissing him back.

_Oh god._

He backed away, panicking. "Just a--"

"Are you serious?" said Nick, grabbing his shoulders with both hands. "Is this what you want?" His eyes grew dark and serious. "Tell me. Do you want this?"

"Do you?" blurted out Cody, completely taken off-guard.

"Yes. I've wanted it--you--every day for fifteen years."

Cody could see the truth in his eyes. "I didn't...oh god, Nick, I didn't know...I just had..."

"Is this what you want?" asked Nick again, his grip tightening. "Us?"

"Yes--I think--"

Nick's mouth was on him again, blistering hot, completely out-of-control, as if all of the passion in his life needed to be expressed through his lips. Cody stood, shell-shocked, as Nick's hand threaded itself through his hair, pulling Cody even closer in, Nick's tongue now igniting every nerve in his body. Cody moaned into the kiss and Nick broke apart, panting. "I want you so bad..."

"I want you, too, Nick--" He never even got to finish the sentence because Nick pushed him against the wall, knocking off the keyrack, and kissed him again, their hard chests pressed together, their hard cocks rubbing against each other through their jeans, Nick's hand on his neck, his other hand sliding below his waistband, bringing him shivers.

Rough fingers against his cock. Cody threw his head back, hitting the wall. "Ungh--Nick--"

"I got you," said Nick breathlessly. "C'mon, give it to me. Gimme everything, Cody."

"Nick--"

"C'mon." Hot tongue licking at the corner of his mouth, hot hand gliding up and down his cock. "C'mon, Cody, I want you to come. I want to hear you come. I want to feel it. C'mon."

"So good--"

Nick's grip grew stronger, the strokes building and building until the wall and Nick's hand were the only things keeping him upright, and then he was coming, fountaining through Nick's fingers, crying out into Nick's mouth, his eyes rolling back into his head.

"Easy, Cody," murmured Nick, gently sliding him down the wall. "Easy..."

"Mmmh." Cody blinked, feeling Nick extricate his hand from his underwear.

His underwear. _Nick just had his hand in my underwear. Nick just brought me off in the salon of the_ Riptide.

He blinked again.

"I love you," said Nick tenderly, kissing his neck. "I've loved you for years. Ever since I saw you get off that chopper. I wanted you so badly. I never thought you'd want me back..." Nick pressed a kiss against his lips, a sweet, gentle kiss, and Cody leaned forward, pulling Nick close against him. Nick made a noise deep in his throat, almost a sob, and then they sat for a long moment, foreheads touching, until Nick leaned back.

"You didn't..." said Cody, and then he noticed the wet spot on Nick's jeans.

"Hearing you come was pretty strong stuff," said Nick, grinning.

Cody flushed a little at that. "You're a good kisser," he said, aware of how surreal it sounded.

Nick turned serious. "Why did you kiss me?"

He hesitated for a moment. "I had a...dream. This morning. About you..." His face burned even hotter. "We were having sex. And it was really good."

"Of course it was." Nick's grin was back. "A dream, huh?"

"Best dream I ever had," said Cody. "But the reality was even better."

"And it'll only get better from here," promised Nick, sealing it with a kiss.


End file.
